CHAPTER 4: Home and Sleep
Written By: tsuruii
Words: 2, 436
Date Released: January 13, 2013
Normal POV
"Hey, Mira?" A familiar blonde started. "Why is this training 101 Days? I thought it was restricted to only 100 nights?"
The Take-Over Mage smiled and simply said two words,
"You'll see."
A certain blonde girl's hair was tied up tightly in a high ponytail as she was sitting down, her eyes lightly closed, and her legs crossed. Her hands were delicately placed on her knees.
"That's it," a calm yet deep voice said from beside. "Relax all your muscles and concentrate solely on your magic power."
The blonde slowly inhaled as she kept her posture, beads of perspiration now appearing on her forehead.
"Concentrate," the deep voice encouraged.
A wave of strong air swept around from where the young mage was sitting. The large figure beside her cracked a smug smile as he nodded.
"Good," he said, "you're done."
The blonde immediately fell on her back as she opened her eyes, looking at the stars which seemed to shine brighter that night than usual.
"You're done?" A feminine voice behind Laxus exclaimed. Lucy got up to a sitting position and smiled at the white-haired mage as greeting.
"Just finished," Laxus replied.
"Good," she smiled. "Come back. Dinner's ready."
"Night 100," Laxus started. "Lucy's primary magic training with Gildarts."
"Trained with Gemini, Leo, and Virgo," Gildarts picked up. "The rest are only at basic but she got the hang of it."
"Lucy's secondary magic capacity training with Mirajane."
The trainer smiled. "Lucy's magic capacity is roughly on par with us."
"And magic controlling with me." The blonde finished. "She's pretty much an S-Class mage now."
Lucy flushed as she took a bite of her salad. "Shut up," she replied, only to receive a smirk from the Thunder Mage. Yes, 100 nights did indeed deepen her relationship with everyone, especially the particular blonde.
"Well," Gildarts exclaimed. "Tonight was the last day of training for you. Tomorrow afternoon, we head back home."
The blonde's smile faltered as realization finally dawned into her.
"Already, huh?" She said softly, pushing her head back to get a good look at the stars. Today was the last night.
She would never sit around the fire, talking with her trainers who now were pretty much family, look at the stars together, and argue about who gets the most food.
It really is coming to an end.
She shot her arms up, protecting her head from a venomous punch that was racing forth her.
It really wasn't on her top 10 list of waking up in the morning.
"What's the meaning of this, Mira?" Lucy asked, alert, awake, and eyeing Satan Soul's punch that she blocked.
"It's as you see, Lucy." The demon growled.
They both whipped their heads above as they heard something snap. Instantly jumping away from each other, lightening striked down, burning down the girl's tent to flutters in mere seconds.
"Laxus," Lucy deemed under her breath.
She didn't have any time to register her thoughts as she sensed something come down from above in rapid speed. She jumped sideways, barely dodging a skyfall punch from Gildarts. A good portion of the ground broke into little blocks, exploding.
"Somebody care to explain this?" The blonde asked, getting up. Her body still ached terribly from yesterday's intense training.
"101 Days and 100 Nights." Laxus deadpanned.
Realization cut her like a knife as she felt a cold bite run down her back. And she knew it wasn't because of the morning chill.
The trainers stood there, analyzing her reaction.
Moments later, both ends of her lips tugged upward, "Training is all the way up to the very last night." She inquired, now starting to tie her hair up and fix her bare feet onto the ground. "There has to be some sort of test... and that's what the last day - the 101st - is all about."
There was only silence but she knew she guessed right. Her shoulders tensed as she put her hands above her keys, getting ready, for what she knew was going to be; a long battle.
It was going to be a while before she'd be able to go back home.
"Jii-chan," a certain salmon-haired mage fussed. "When's Lucy coming back?"
The Master's eyes narrowed, "Sometime during the afternoon. They're busy in the morning."
Fairy Tail was having a slightly larger party than usual. They knew that their S-Class mages would soon be back, with a certain blonde (whom they missed very much) with them.
"I wonder how strong she became," Happy pondered, flying beside Natsu.
"Yeah!" he replied, pumping his fist. "When she comes back, I'm going to ask her to fight me!"
"Aye, sir!"
"You fools," a calm voice interjected, "when Lucy comes back, we'll all enjoy a nice cup of tea with strawberry cake."
"But Erza, you're already eating it." Happy bluntly pointed out. "You're going to get fat if you eat so much."
The guild grew quiet.
It was going to be quite a long morning for the guild of Fairy Tail, as well.
"I told you that you can't beat me, ice-pants!" The fire mage hollered out.
"I just did, you flame-brain!" His opponent shot back.
"Ha! You call that a win, cheat-"
"SHUT UP YOU LITTLE PUNKS!" Erza shouted, consumed with rage while swinging her mass sword around.
"HOW ABOUT YOU SHUT UP, ERZA!" Cana slammed down her barrel, very much drunk indeed. "Damn, can't even drink in peace."
"Huh? You said something, Cana?" Erza turned her head to the drunk brunette, glaring.
"You squinty-eyes, all you have in your head is lava!" Gray shouted.
"And all YOU have is ice!" Natsu shot back.
"Well, you suck at fighting!"
"I, at least, win the fights!"
"Oh, really? From what I remember, you lost the fight with Erza the first m-"
"Gray, your clothes." A calm voice interjected.
"Wha-" He exclaimed, looking down and seeing his very crotch bare.
Then he stood still.
Erza's demon eyes grew calm.
And Cana stopped laughing hysterically.
"MIRA!" Natsu called out from behind Gray, his face brightening aplenty.
Gray jumped around, a large grin plastered on his face. "As I thought, the only person to remind me of my clothes would be Mira!"
Natsu looked around. "Then Gildarts and the rest must also be-"
"Yup." A large-figure teleported in and waved.
"Hey, hey, don't forget me." Another voice said.
"Laxus!" The guild shouted.
Natsu's face brightened as he raised his head a bit higher.
The last person teleported in and the Fire Mage never felt happier. It beat the day when he got an unlimited amount of fire pizza after an eating competition
"LUCY!" The whole guild, especially her team, called out.
Natsu and Happy raced to give her a hug but was stopped when Gildarts put his arm out in front of Lucy protectively.
"You can't touch her." He exclaimed, eyes narrowing in all seriousness.
Natsu raised his eyebrows.
"Why not?"
"Sorry, Natsu." Lucy gave a small smile from behind and apologized. "I'm... not in the best condition right now."
"Now that you mention it, what happened to you guys?" Gray considered the group.
Indeed, Gildarts, Laxus, Mira, and Lucy were bandaged almost everywhere. Their head, arms, legs - almost everywhere visible.
Mira stepped forward to explain but was interrupted when a small, midget-height grandpa strode in.
"So you guys returned." Master started, unusually serious.
"We're back, Master." Mirajane smiled her usual and greeted.
He nodded. "And how did it go?"
"We couldn't go as far as you asked us to, but that would be because we taught her a couple side tricks," Gildarts scratched his head in guilt.
"And Lucy? How was it for you?"
"I've never felt better!" She replied happily, but stumbled, catching her guild mates by surprise. Laxus caught her, helping her re-gain her balance.
"Don't move around too much, you idiot." Laxus warned.
The blonde nodded. "Yeah... sorry."
"Lucy, are you alright?" Erza stepped forward and asked, worry evident on her face.
"I'm just a bit worn out, that's all." She smiled tiredly. "Sorry if I worried you."
"Laxus, Gildarts, Mira," Master stressed. "Come with me for a short while. Lucy, stay here and catch up with the guild. I'm sure they all have lots to tell you. And I'm sure you have lots to tell them as well."
Lucy nodded, still resting against Laxus from the stumble earlier.
The Thunder Mage helped her get to her seat and left with a light pat on the back. When he and the rest were out of sight, the whole guild declared another party, taking the beer out and going for it all.
"Lu-chan! Your hair grew so much!" Levy started. "It looks sooo good!"
"Are you sure those wounds are alright, Lucy?" Gray asked.
"Oh Mavis, Lucy! Did you lose weight?"
"Rrruuccyy! Let's drriink!"
"How was it with having the demon train you?!"
"Forget the demon! How was it having Laxus train you?!"
"How was Gildarts?!"
"Quiet down!" Erza shouted. "Give her some space for Edolas' sake!"
Lucy smiled at her fellow teammate. "Thanks, Erza."
The scarlet-mage smiled back. "How was it, Lucy? How do you feel?"
"It was good," Lucy nodded and replied. "But dreadfully difficult keeping up with all of them."
"Lucy, are you strong now?" Happy asked, nibbling on his fish.
"I definitely did improve a lot from where I started but I'm not really strong."
"Let's fight!" Natsu cried out.
The Celestial Mage rolled her eyes but her lips tugged upwards. She never quite realized how much she missed the guild until now.
"Maybe some other day."
"Alright!" Natsu pumped his fist in the air and cried out.
"But, really, Laxus helping you out like that." Gray exclaimed. "He actually looked... nice for a second there."
Lucy's face lightly flushed to a pink as she shook her head.
"Are you feeling okay? Your face is red." Erza implemented, worried.
"F-Fine!" She stuttered. "And Gray! Wouldn't you help someone who stumbled?"
"Lu-chan!" Levy raised her voice above all else. "Do you by any chance... like Laxus?!"
Everyone turned to look at Lucy's reaction, who was by now, combusting on the spot.
"L-Levy-chan!" She cried out in embarrassment. "You should know that that's not it!"
"Well, I'm not buying it." The bluenette raised her nose and turned her head.
"You llllllike him." Happy rolled, paws on his mouth.
"You lllllike him." Cana slurred as well, still drunk.
"Shut up!" Lucy shot out, face still red.
When Gildarts, Laxus, and Mira came out of Master's room, they, too, joined the party.
Gildarts was eying the girls as usual. Laxus was quiet and was with Evergreen, Freed, and Bixlow as usual. And Mira was tending the bar, getting whistles from the males that very much missed her.
The only thing different now was that they seemed to be very much aware of Lucy's surroundings.
For example, when Lucy stumbled for the umpieth time, Gildarts got to her faster than Natsu, who was right beside her.
Or when Lucy was about to get her food from the bar, Mira instead, made a dinner especially for her (for free, receiving much protests after) , gave it to Laxus, who than walked over to the blonde and personally gaveit to her.
And one of them would, without a doubt, check up on her every 5 to 10 minutes, asking her how she's feeling, if she wants to go home, and telling the members to back off the questions, stating clearly that she was tired.
"I'm not liking this." A certain salmon-haired growled, his head flat on the table and seated far from Lucy and the rest of the party.
"What's the matter, Natsu?" Happy asked, nibbling on his third fish of the night.
The Fire Mage turned his head to the side, facing the cat. "It's been hours since Lucy came but I never once had a chance to talk to her alone!" He whined.
"Are you jealllous?" Happy rolled, still eating his fish.
"I am!" He huffed, waving his hands around dramatically. "I should be spending time with her! Lucy's my partner!"
"Yes, what about me being your partner?" A familiar voice exclaimed behind him. Natsu jumped around to see her best friend, her curious hazel eyes staring right back at him.
"Luc-!" He exclaimed happily, jumping up to give her a bear hug.
"No touch." Laxus growled, grabbing the Fire Mage's face and pushing him back.
"Laxus, stop being so violent." Mira called from the bar. "Give those two some time alone."
The Thunder Mage only grunted as he turned around. "Fine. But no touch."
The Celestial Mage helped Natsu up and took a seat with him. The party was still going strong far behind them and only escalated as some mage, Mavis Bless, dropped Erza's cake.
"Geesh, what's with him," The salmon-haired exclaimed as he rubbed his aching face.
"Don't worry about it. Now that training is over, he's just feeling guilty." Lucy smiled and said.
"Guilty about what?"
"Well," she started. "He was the one that went the hardest with me at the training."
"You fought with Laxus?!" Natsu exclaimed, eyes widening from excitement.
"More like everyday at training," The blonde sighed. "He's not the one to go easy, that's for sure."
"So you're on par with them?!"
"She's pretty much an S-Class mage," Mira interrupted as she placed down a cup of hot tea for Lucy. "Drink it, it's good for the wounds."
"Thank you Mira and Natsu, don't believe her. She's overestimating me."
"Certainly not!" Mira giggled and replied. "You'll have a fun time fighting her, I can tell you that."
Natsu's face brightened as he breathed out fire from his nose in excitement.
"Promise me you'll fight me once you get better, Lucy!"
"Yes, yes," The Celestial Mage replied, sipping her hot tea.
"Promise?"
"Of course."
The party ended quickly from there. Laxus decided that Lucy was up way too long (as their sleeping schedule was completely switched and they did not get sleep at all during daytime from the battle) and was to be sent home immediately. Mira and Gildarts ended all protests with their terrifying glares and Erza, being the noble woman she is, volunteered to walk her home just in case she stumbled (which was quite obvious that she would).
When the blonde was safely tucked in her bed, the Scarlet Mage left her, smiling over her shoulder at the sight of her best friend back safe and sound.
The full moon peered through her window, the light city chatters sang her the most peaceful lullaby, and the Celestial Mage was gently placed into her dream.
A/N: Thanks for reading!